Dart Board Mounting Assembly

ABSTRACT

A dart board mounting assembly for rotatably mounting a dart board includes a panel that has an aperture extending through the panel. The panel has a mounting surface for facilitating a dart board to be positioned on the mounting surface. A hub is rotatably positioned in the aperture in the panel and the hub is attachable to the dart board such that the hub rotatably retains the dart board on the panel. A pin is slidably integrated into the panel and the pin is biased into an engaging position to engage the hub thereby retaining the dart board at a desired position. Conversely, the pin is urgeable into a releasing position to disengage the hub thereby facilitating the dart board to be rotated into a desired position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR ASA TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to mounting devices and more particularlypertains to a new mounting device for rotatably mounting a dart board.The device includes a panel with an aperture and a hub that is rotatablydisposed in the aperture. A dart board is positionable against the paneland the dart board can be attached to the hub for rotatably mounting thedart board on the panel. A pin is slidably integrated into the panel andthe pin is biased into an engaging position to engage the hub therebyinhibiting the hub from rotating and the pin is urgeable into areleasing position to disengage the hub for rotating the hub.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to mounting devices including a dart board devicethat includes a dart board rotatably disposed on a panel and series ofpulleys and a belt for rotating the dart board. The prior art disclosesan automatic scoring dart board device that includes magnetic darts anda plurality of magnetic sensors mounted behind a dart board. The priorart discloses a dart board that is divided into scoring panel thatresemble respective cards of a deck of playing cards. The prior artdiscloses a target practice dart board device that includes a dart boardand a target that is rotatably mounted to the dart board. The prior artdiscloses a rotatable dart board that includes a concave dart board anda planar dart board rotatably disposed on the concave dart board. Theprior art discloses an ornamental design for a rotatable dart board thatincludes a dart board and a cage that is rotatably disposed on the dartboard.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a panel that has an aperture extending through thepanel. The panel has a mounting surface for facilitating a dart board tobe positioned on the mounting surface. A hub is rotatably positioned inthe aperture in the panel and the hub is attachable to the dart boardsuch that the hub rotatably retains the dart board on the panel. A pinis slidably integrated into the panel and the pin is biased into anengaging position to engage the hub thereby retaining the dart board ata desired position. Conversely, the pin is urgeable into a releasingposition to disengage the hub thereby facilitating the dart board to berotated into a desired position.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the disclosure in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There areadditional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features ofnovelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than thoseset forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a dart board mounting assembly according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 of anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a back perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through8 thereof, a new mounting device embodying the principles and conceptsof an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by thereference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8 , the dart board mountingassembly 10 generally comprises a panel 12 that has an aperture 14extending through the panel 12. The panel 12 has a mounting surface 16for facilitating a dart board 18 to be positioned on the mountingsurface 16, and the panel 12 has a rear surface 20 and a perimeter edge22 extending between the mounting surface 16 and the rear surface 20.The dart board 18 may comprise a circular dart board that is commonlyassociated with the traditional pub game of darts which was originatedin the United Kingdom. The aperture 14 extends through the mountingsurface 16 and the rear surface 20, the aperture 14 is centrallypositioned on the panel 12 and the aperture 14 has a bounding edge 24.

The panel 12 has a series of ridges 26 each extending away from the rearsurface 20, and the series of ridges 26 include a central ridge 28 thatis continuously curved such that the central ridge 28 defines a circleand the central ridge 28 is oriented to surround the aperture 14. Thecentral ridge 28 has a distal surface 30 with respect to the rearsurface 20 of the panel 12 and the distal surface 30 has a primaryportion 32 and a secondary portion 34. Each of the primary portion 32and the secondary portion 34 lies on a plane that is oriented coplanarwith the rear surface 20 of the panel 12. A distance between the primaryportion 32 and the rear surface 20 of panel 12 is greater than adistance between the secondary portion 34 and the rear surface 20 of thepanel 12. The central ridge 28 has an inward surface 36 and an outwardsurface 38, and the inward surface 36 extends between the secondaryportion 34 and the bounding edge 24 of the aperture 14 such that theinward surface 36 is aligned with the bounding edge 24, and the outwardsurface 38 extends between the primary portion 32 and the rear surface20 of the panel 12.

The series of ridges 26 includes a plurality of outward ridges 40 thatradiate outwardly from the central ridge 28 and each of the outwardridges 40 intersects a respective one of four corners 42 of theperimeter edge 22 of the panel 12. The series of ridges 26 includes aperimeter ridge 44 that is aligned with and is coextensive with theperimeter edge 22 of the panel 12. The perimeter ridge 44 has a firsthole 46 extending laterally through the perimeter ridge 44, the centralridge 28 has a second hole 48 extending laterally through outwardsurface 38 and the inward surface 36 of the central ridge 28, and thesecond hole 48 is aligned with the first hole 46.

A hub 50 is rotatably positioned in the aperture 14 in the panel 12 andthe hub 50 is attachable to the dart board 18 such that the hub 50rotatably retains the dart board 18 on the panel 12. The hub 50 has afront surface 52, a back surface 54 and a perimeter surface 56 extendingbetween the front surface 52 and the back surface 54, and the perimetersurface 56 has a first portion 58 which has a diameter that is less thana diameter of a second portion 60. The first portion 58 intersects thefront surface 52 and the second portion 60 intersects the back surface54. Furthermore, a threshold 62 between the first portion 58 and thesecond portion 60 abuts the secondary portion 34 of the distal surface30 of the central ridge 28 having the front surface 52 of the hub 50being aligned with the mounting surface 16 of the panel 12 and havingthe back surface 54 of the hub 50 being aligned with the primary portion32 of the distal surface 30 of the central ridge 28. The first portion58 of the perimeter surface 56 of the hub 50 is surrounded by the inwardsurface 36 of the central ridge 28 and the bounding surface of theaperture 14 in the panel 12. The hub 50 has a plurality of wells 64 eachextending inwardly on the first portion 58 of the perimeter surface 56of the hub 50, and the wells 64 are spaced apart from each other and aredistributed around a full circumference of the first portion 58. The hub50 has a plurality of fastener holes 66 each extending through the frontsurface 52 and the back surface 54 of the hub 50, and the plurality offastener holes 66 is arranged to define four corners of a rectangle.

A pair of receivers 68 is provided and each of the receivers 68 iscoupled to and extends away from the rear surface 20 of the panel 12.The pair of receivers 68 are spaced apart from each other and aredistributed along a line extending between the first hole 46 in theperimeter ridge 44 and the second hole 48 in the central ridge 28. A pin70 is slidably integrated into the panel 12 and the pin 70 is biasedinto an engaging position having the pin 70 engaging the hub 50 forretaining the hub 50 at a desired degree of rotation thereby retainingthe dart board 18 at a desired position. Conversely, the pin 70 isurgeable into a releasing position having the pin 70 disengaging the hub50 for facilitating the dart board 18 to be rotated into a desiredposition.

The pin 70 has a handle portion 72 and a shaft portion 74, and the shaftportion 74 extends through the first hole 46 in the perimeter ridge 44having the handle portion 72 being spaced outwardly from the perimeterridge 44 such that the handle portion 72 can be gripped. The shaftportion 74 extends through each of the receivers 68 and the shaftportion 74 extends through the second hole 48 in the central ridge 28.The shaft portion 74 extends into a respective one of the wells 64 inthe first portion 58 of the perimeter surface 56 of the hub 50 when thepin 70 is biased into the engaging position. Conversely, the shaftportion 74 is removed from the respective well 64 in the first portion58 of the perimeter surface 56 of the hub 50 when the pin 70 is urgedinto the releasing position.

A biasing member 76 is positioned around the shaft portion 74 of the pin70 and the biasing member 76 is positioned between the pair of receivers68 on the rear surface of the panel 12. The biasing member 76 biasingthe pin 70 into the engaging position and the biasing member 76 maycomprise a spring or the like. A plurality of fasteners 78 is providedand each of the fasteners 78 is extendable through a respective one ofthe fastener holes 66 in the hub 50 and engages the dart board 18 forfastening the hub 50 to the dart board 18. Each of the fasteners 78 maycomprise a screw or other similar type of fastener.

In use, the dart board 18 is positioned against the mounting surface 16of the panel 12 and the hub 50 is inserted into the aperture 14 in thepanel 12. Each of the fasteners 78 is extended through the fastenerapertures 14 to engage the dart board 18 and subsequently mount the dartboard 18 to the panel 12. In this way the panel 12 can be hung on avertical support surface, such as a wall for example, to facilitate thedart board 18 to be employed for the game of darts. The pin 70 is pulledinto the releasing position to facilitate the dart board 18 to berotated on the panel 12. In this way the dart board 18 can be rotatedinto any desired orientation. The pin 70 is released when the dart board18 is positioned in the desired orientation such that the hub 50 isinhibited from being rotated. In this way the dart board 18 is retainedin the desired orientation for playing darts. The dart board 18 can berotated at any time during game play to add a new level of difficulty tothe game of darts.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodimentenabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials,shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and allequivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification are intended to be encompassed by anembodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of thedisclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used inits non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word areincluded, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. Areference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not excludethe possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

I claim:
 1. A dart board mounting assembly for facilitating a dart boardto be rotated for enhancing competitive darts, said assembly comprising:a panel having an aperture extending through said panel, said panelhaving a mounting surface for facilitating a dart board to be positionedon said mounting surface; a hub being rotatably positioned in saidaperture in said panel, said hub being attachable to the dart board suchthat said hub rotatably retains said dart board on said panel; and a pinbeing slidably integrated into said panel, said pin being biased into anengaging position having said pin engaging said hub for retaining saidhub at a desired degree of rotation for retaining the dart board at adesired position, said pin being urgeable into a releasing positionhaving said pin disengaging said hub for facilitating the dart board tobe rotated into a desired position.
 2. The assembly according to claim1, wherein: said panel has a rear surface and a perimeter edge extendingbetween said mounting surface and said rear surface, said apertureextending through said mounting surface and said rear surface, saidaperture being centrally positioned on said panel, said aperture havinga bounding edge; said panel has a series of ridges each extending awayfrom said rear surface, said series of ridges including a central ridgebeing continuously curved such that said central ridge defines a circle,said central ridge being oriented to surround said aperture; said seriesof ridges includes plurality of outward ridges radiating outwardly fromsaid central ridge, each of said outward ridges intersecting arespective one of four corners of said perimeter edge of said panel; andsaid series of ridges includes a perimeter ridge being aligned with andbeing coextensive with said perimeter edge of said panel.
 3. Theassembly according to claim 2, wherein: said central ridge has a distalsurface with respect to said rear surface of said panel, said distalsurface having a primary portion and a secondary portion, each of saidprimary portion and said secondary portion lying on a plane beingoriented coplanar with said rear surface of said panel, a distancebetween said primary portion and said rear surface of panel beinggreater than a distance between said secondary portion and said rearsurface of said panel; and said central ridge has an inward surface andan outward surface, said inward surface extending between said secondaryportion and said bounding edge of said aperture such that said inwardsurface is aligned with said bounding edge, said outward surfaceextending between said primary portion and said rear surface of saidpanel.
 4. The assembly according to claim 3, wherein: said hub has afront surface, a back surface and a perimeter surface extending betweensaid front surface and said back surface, said perimeter surface havinga first portion having a diameter being less than a diameter of a secondportion, said first portion intersecting said front surface, said secondportion intersecting said back surface; a threshold between said firstportion and said second portion abuts said secondary portion of saiddistal surface of said central ridge having said front surface of saidhub being aligned with said mounting surface of said panel and havingsaid back surface of said hub being aligned with said primary portion ofsaid distal surface of said central ridge; and said first portion ofsaid perimeter surface of said hub is surrounded by said inward surfaceof said central ridge and said bounding surface of said aperture in saidpanel.
 5. The assembly according to claim 4, wherein: said perimeterridge has a first hole extending laterally through said perimeter ridge;said central ridge has a second hole extending laterally through outwardsurface and said inward surface of said central ridge, said second holebeing aligned with said first hole; and said hub has a plurality ofwells each extending inwardly on said first portion of said perimetersurface of said hub, said wells being spaced apart from each other andbeing distributed around a full circumference of said first portion. 6.The assembly according to claim 4, wherein said hub has a plurality offastener holes each extending through said front surface and said backsurface of said hub, said plurality of fastener holes being arranged todefine four corners of a rectangle.
 7. The assembly according to claim5, further comprising a pair of receivers, each of said receivers beingcoupled to and extending away from said rear surface of said panel, saidpair of receivers being spaced apart from each other and beingdistributed along a line extending between said first hole in saidperimeter ridge and said second hole in said central ridge.
 8. Theassembly according to claim 7, wherein: said pin has a handle portionand a shaft portion; said shaft portion extends through said first holein said perimeter ridge having said handle portion being spacedoutwardly from said perimeter ridge wherein said handle portion isconfigured to be gripped; said shaft portion extends through each ofsaid receivers; said shaft portion extends through said second hole insaid central ridge; said shaft portion extends into a respective one ofsaid wells in said first portion of said perimeter surface of said hubwhen said pin is biased into said engaging position; and said shaftportion is removed from said respective well in said first portion ofsaid perimeter surface of said hub when said pin is urged into saidreleasing position.
 9. The assembly according to claim 8, furthercomprising a biasing member being positioned around said shaft portionof said pin, said biasing member being positioned between said pair ofreceivers on said rear surface of said panel, said biasing memberbiasing said pin into said engaging position.
 10. The assembly accordingto claim 6, further comprising a plurality of fasteners, each of saidfasteners being extendable through a respective one of said fastenerholes in said hub and engages the dart board for fastening said hub tothe dart board.
 11. A dart board mounting assembly for facilitating adart board to be rotated for enhancing competitive darts, said assemblycomprising: a panel having an aperture extending through said panel,said panel having a mounting surface for facilitating a dart board to bepositioned on said mounting surface, said panel having a rear surfaceand a perimeter edge extending between said mounting surface and saidrear surface, said aperture extending through said mounting surface andsaid rear surface, said aperture being centrally positioned on saidpanel, said aperture having a bounding edge, said panel having a seriesof ridges each extending away from said rear surface, said series ofridges including a central ridge being continuously curved such thatsaid central ridge defines a circle, said central ridge being orientedto surround said aperture, said central ridge having a distal surfacewith respect to said rear surface of said panel, said distal surfacehaving a primary portion and a secondary portion, each of said primaryportion and said secondary portion lying on a plane being orientedcoplanar with said rear surface of said panel, a distance between saidprimary portion and said rear surface of panel being greater than adistance between said secondary portion and said rear surface of saidpanel, said central ridge having an inward surface and an outwardsurface, said inward surface extending between said secondary portionand said bounding edge of said aperture such that said inward surface isaligned with said bounding edge, said outward surface extending betweensaid primary portion and said rear surface of said panel, said series ofridges including plurality of outward ridges radiating outwardly fromsaid central ridge, each of said outward ridges intersecting arespective one of four corners of said perimeter edge of said panel,said series of ridges including a perimeter ridge being aligned with andbeing coextensive with said perimeter edge of said panel, said perimeterridge having a first hole extending laterally through said perimeterridge, said central ridge having a second hole extending laterallythrough outward surface and said inward surface of said central ridge,said second hole being aligned with said first hole; a hub beingrotatably positioned in said aperture in said panel, said hub beingattachable to the dart board such that said hub rotatably retains saiddart board on said panel, said hub having a front surface, a backsurface and a perimeter surface extending between said front surface andsaid back surface, said perimeter surface having a first portion havinga diameter being less than a diameter of a second portion, said firstportion intersecting said front surface, said second portionintersecting said back surface, a threshold between said first portionand said second portion abutting said secondary portion of said distalsurface of said central ridge having said front surface of said hubbeing aligned with said mounting surface of said panel and having saidback surface of said hub being aligned with said primary portion of saiddistal surface of said central ridge, said first portion of saidperimeter surface of said hub being surrounded by said inward surface ofsaid central ridge and said bounding surface of said aperture in saidpanel, said hub having a plurality of wells each extending inwardly onsaid first portion of said perimeter surface of said hub, said wellsbeing spaced apart from each other and being distributed around a fullcircumference of said first portion, said hub having a plurality offastener holes each extending through said front surface and said backsurface of said hub, said plurality of fastener holes being arranged todefine four corners of a rectangle; a pair of receivers, each of saidreceivers being coupled to and extending away from said rear surface ofsaid panel, said pair of receivers being spaced apart from each otherand being distributed along a line extending between said first hole insaid perimeter ridge and said second hole in said central ridge; a pinbeing slidably integrated into said panel, said pin being biased into anengaging position having said pin engaging said hub for retaining saidhub at a desired degree of rotation for retaining the dart board at adesired position, said pin being urgeable into a releasing positionhaving said pin disengaging said hub for facilitating the dart board tobe rotated into a desired position, said pin having a handle portion anda shaft portion, said shaft portion extending through said first hole insaid perimeter ridge having said handle portion being spaced outwardlyfrom said perimeter ridge wherein said handle portion is configured tobe gripped, said shaft portion extending through each of said receivers,said shaft portion extending through said second hole in said centralridge, said shaft portion extending into a respective one of said wellsin said first portion of said perimeter surface of said hub when saidpin is biased into said engaging position, said shaft portion beingremoved from said respective well in said first portion of saidperimeter surface of said hub when said pin is urged into said releasingposition; a biasing member being positioned around said shaft portion ofsaid pin, said biasing member being positioned between said pair ofreceivers on said rear surface of said panel, said biasing memberbiasing said pin into said engaging position; and a plurality offasteners, each of said fasteners being extendable through a respectiveone of said fastener holes in said hub and engages the dart board forfastening said hub to the dart board.